Bioaccessibility of bioactive peptides: recent advances and perspectives

Food-derived bioactive peptides are gaining popularity for their vast amount of potential health benefits against diseases such as obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and many more. However, many of these bioactivities are demonstrated using in vitro models, which do not completely reflect the true conditions that peptides experience upon oral ingestion. Furthermore, results obtained from in vivo studies are not entirely reproducible in other in vivo models due to systemic physiological differences. This review discusses the different bioaccessibility challenges, such as gastrointestinal tract hydrolysis by proteases, food matrix interactions, and intestinal barrier interaction that must be considered when developing peptide-based nutraceuticals or functional foods. The paper also discusses the potential avenues for improving bioaccessibility of bioactive peptides, amongst other factors that should be considered, during the design and production phases.